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Re: [Goat_Friends] Autobiography of a Goat

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Colleen Klaum

That was very inspiring iimpster. Peace and god bless, Colleen iimpster wrote: Like all other animals, after traversing through many

Message 1 of 2
, Mar 8, 2002

That was very inspiring iimpster. Peace and god bless, Colleen
iimpster <iimpster@...> wrote: Like all other animals, after traversing through many rebirths, when
I entered into my mother goat's womb, and suffered the ignonimity of
being encaged there for five months and took birth, I found this
world a nice and pleasant place to live in. Man and his little
children treated me with affection, held me in their laps and gave me
tender green leaves to eat. Drinking my goat-mother's milk, I began
to grow quickly. Her master used to pet me and take me to his farm,
where I used to feed myself on green leaves. He was not annoyed even
when I evacuated my body-waste in his field. When I asked my mother
the reason for this, I was told that our waste turns into manure for
his plants, giving him great yields. That is why he was never angry
with me.

Time continued to pass gradually and I went on living contentedly
with my companions. After about an year and a half, a stranger came
to my master. They talked for some time and then my master brought
together about 40-50 of my companions and we were made to stand in a
group. Then a big van arrived there and we were forcibily thrust into
it. I wanted to go to my mother, but could not. When I moved towards
her, an ugly-looking man hit me with a stick. Helplessly, we
squeezed, ourselves in the van. My head began to reel due to over-
crowding. My companions were also in bad shape. Fear was writ large
on every body's face and the jerks caused by the moving vehicle was
scratching our skins. The day went by and night fell and another day
and night passed but the van was constantly on the move. Twice the
van-owners threw us some food but it barely sufficed to fill half our
bellies. Next day, the van stopped in a big city. A tall, bearded man
approached the van, he gave the van-owner something and we were all
turned over to him. Our new master drove us with sticks to a house.
He made all of us stand in the sun. Restlessness caused by sunshine,
hunger and thirst, and to top it the fear of the stick were driving
us towards our death.

After a long wait we were pushed into the house. A man sitting
there was examining my companions with some tube attached to his
ears. When our turn, came our owner gave him some thing, and he sent
us inside without checking. I could not understand this but a senior
companion of mine told me that he was a doctor and it meant our death
was approaching us. Already half-dead with hunger, thirst and
tiredness, I lost all my appetite on hearing this and could not
swallow whatever little was given to us. Even water hurt instead of
soothing my throat. Then the door of an adjoining room was opened and
what I saw there made me tremble with terror. My legs refused to
carry my weight and darkness appeared before my eyes. Cries and wails
of my companions coming out of that room made me weep. I tried to cry
but the voice could not come out of my mouth and throat. I tried to
run out but a man caught hold of both my hind legs and threw me into
that room where a horrible person looking like a giant was slitting
the throat of one of my companions with a massive knife. Suddenly, a
thought flashed in my mind. Is this the same man who claims to be the
descendent of sages and saints and who always sings the songs of pity
and non-violence? No, this cannot be the same man because even wild
animals, who are solely dependent on flesh diet, never indulge in
such mass killing as he was doing. While such thoughts were passing
through my mind, a man caught hold of my ears and pushed me towards
that horrible man. The pain now turned.my fear into rage, I tried to
pull myself away, but in vain. My frustration resulting in boiling of
my blood, froth started oozing from my mouth and involuntarily I
passed urine and solid waste. But no one took pity on my helpless
condition. Rather, two other persons caught hold of me. One caught me
by the legs and the other one started cutting my throat with a
dagger. Fountain of blood spurted from my neck and my entire body was
filled with pain. Now there was no alternative, but to pray for
instant death. I only wished they would kill me with one blow and not
prolong my agony. But no, I was destined to suffer more because the
knife went only half way through my neck. Death was still far away
and every moment of this torture dragged on like an year. Cursing my
fate and remembering God, I continued praying and waking for death.

Darkness gradually began to descend before my eyes and I started
losing consciousness. Perhaps breathing had also stopped. It seemed
as I am dead and messengers of death were carrying me to the sky.
But wait- what is that? My body still lay in that slaughter-house and
now two persons were pulling my hide away from the flesh and fat
below the hide. They throw my hide on one side and flesh on the
other. After some time, a person purchased my flesh and took it to
the kitchen of a hotel. There a person sliced my whole flesh into
small pieces. Probably, all these tortures were too little for this
God like man, because it is his hereditary habit to rub-salt on the
wounds and this was still due. Why they should leave it for me? So
after changing my meat to pulp he not only added salt and chillies
but fried me on fire too and thus gave ample evidence of his
barbarity. I was wondering, what next, when I saw another person
arranging my meat in a plate and taking it out of the kitchen into a
big decorated room where a young couple was sitting. As soon as the
plate was laid before the couple, the male among them started eating
my meat with a flourish of delight. But the female sitting opposite
him appeared to dislike eating my meat and it seemed that she was
just giving company to her husband.

By now, I had reached the court of 'Dharamraj'and was standing in
the queue of many souls. The loud voice of 'Chitragupta, who was
narrating the account of good and bad deeds of everybody, attracted
my attention. On my turn, Chitraguptaji revealed that in my previous
birth I had feasted on the flesh of a goat. As a consequence of that,
I had to born as goat and offer my meat for others. He also revealed
that the persons, I had seen in the hotel eating my flesh were my own
loving children of my previous birth, whom I had loved so much that
for their sake I had staked everything in life. "Now that they are
eating your meat in their present birth, they will have to suffer
similar punishment for this in their next birth" Hearing this my soul
trembled. How could I like my progeny to suffer the same tortures as
had been inflicted on me? I, therefore, requested Dharamraj ji to
forgive all of them because I too, had forgiven them and wanted no
revenge of any kind. Dharamraj ji took pity on me and graciously
ordered that, since as a goat I had eaten only leaves and creepers,
and had done no one any harm, and had forgiven everyone, I should be
reborn next as a man. My soul was thus sent to earth to take the
human life.

Entering into my next re-incarnation, I vowed that now I would
behave with the utmost rectitude and be a votary of truth and non-
violence. Far from killing any bird or animal or eating its flesh, I
would desist from causing the least pain to any living being, nor do
anyone any harm. I would always offer protection to every living
being. With these thoughts, I entered the womb of my new mother.